Measurement of attitudes of trainee professionals to people with disabilities

Abstract

The importance of measuring attitudes of trainee professionals to people with disabilities was addressed. A questionnaire which included the Scale of Attitudes toward Disabled Persons (SADP) and the Intellectual Disability Misconceptions Scale (IDMS) was completed by first and final year tertiary students enrolled in a 3-year course on intellectual disability. The attitude measures did not discriminate between the two groups of students, psychometric properties were poor and the factor structure of the SADP did not replicate previous findings. As expected, there was some convergence between the two attitude measures, and relationships to subject variables were consistent with previous research. Recommendations for subsequent research were discussed.

Attitude of physiotherapy students in Nigeria toward persons with disability

“…The influence of age on attitudes toward persons with disability has been previously acknowledged. 29,30 For the difference in attitude based on training institution, the mean attitude score of students from the University of Maiduguri was highest and in the positive attitude range while mean scores for each of the other 2 universities were in the range of negative attitude. The difference in students' attitude by University may however remain a matter for conjecture as the physiotherapy curricula in the 3 participating universities are similar.…”

Norms of the Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability Questionnaire

“…The study of general adult population attitudes toward ID has therefore gained considerable importance over the past few years (Hampton & Xiao 2008;Scior 2011). By positively influencing attitudes toward ID (Beckwith & Matthews 1995;Lau & Cheung 1999;MacDonald & MacIntyre 1999;Hunt & Hunt 2004;Findler et al 2007;Rillotta & Nettelbeck 2007;Scior 2011), it is expected that programs would promote better integration of people with ID within the community and across various public and private sector services. These would be tailored to the different groups in the community.…”

“…These would be tailored to the different groups in the community. By positively influencing attitudes toward ID (Beckwith & Matthews 1995;Lau & Cheung 1999;MacDonald & MacIntyre 1999;Hunt & Hunt 2004;Findler et al 2007;Rillotta & Nettelbeck 2007;Scior 2011), it is expected that programs would promote better integration of people with ID within the community and across various public and private sector services. Studies show that public response and general attitudes toward people with ID do indeed affect the success of policies designed to promote social inclusion (Scior 2011).…”

Psychometric properties of the Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory‐Revised in Chinese college students

“…Attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) have been one of the foci in intellectual disability (ID) research. Over the past several decades, the majority of the attitude research has focused on three areas: psychometric assessment of attitude measures (Yuker 1988; Beckwith & Mathews 1995; Antonak & Livneh 2000); correlates of attitudes towards PWID (Ashman & Pendred 1983; Lifeshitz & Glaubman 2002; Norwicki 2006; Edwards 2007); and modification of negative attitudes towards PWID (Yuker 1988; Bailey et al. 2001; Kim et al.…”